I’m trying to get to the heart of what’s happening in Portland—60-plus straight nights of downtown demonstrations—and is apparently spreading to other cities. How violent are they? What do protesters want and when do they want it? What’s the endgame? Here’s what I’ve put together based on stories filed by two journalists—WORLD correspondent Andrew Shaughnessy with the protesters, Mike Balsano of the Associated Press with the federal agents—and my own experience.
As night fell on Friday, July 24, thousands of protesters focused their attention on the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse in downtown Portland, Ore. It has large windows and a white marble interior, but thick plywood now covered its outside, with narrow slits at the top giving the dozens of federal agents inside an opening through which to fire pepper balls.
Garbage and paint splatters covered the steps leading to the courthouse and the terrace outside the front door. Demonstrators regularly shook the black fence now keeping them away from the courthouse’s graffiti-covered walls. A Joshua might say, “There is a noise of war out there.” But a Moses might respond, “It is not the sound of victory or defeat, but the sound of singing.”
Yes, early in the evening some of the protesters blasted music from speakers on their shoulders, played trumpets, and beat drums. Some sang, danced, and batted around beachballs. Smoke poured from the “Riot Ribs” tent where cooks manned grills and handed out racks of barbecued ribs. On the fringes, the smell of cigarettes and marijuana drifted through the air.
A couple walked by, holding hands and discussing the appropriate time to change a gas mask filter. Shaughnessy spoke with another couple, the Perlbergs, who were having what Ashley Perlberg called a “date night. … If we don’t raise anti-racist kids, then I haven’t done my job.” She said, “Our system [needs to] be torn down and rebuilt. … We need to change the government.”
In the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse, the mood was grim. One federal agent told Balsano, “It’s scary. You open those doors out, when the crowd is shaking the fence, and ... on the other side of that fence are people that want to kill you because of the job we chose to do and what we represent.”
Before 11 p.m. that might have seemed like paranoia. Then the noise of war began to dominate. Some protesters threw commercial-grade fireworks over the fence, injuring five federal agents. Many of the protesters cheered the huge booms and explosions of red, white, and green. Some aimed at the agents’ eyes lasers that can cause permanent blindness. Others threw frozen water bottles, rocks, cans of beans, and eggs.
Then came the federal response. Federal agents hurled tear gas canisters and flash-bang grenades into the crowd. Soon the billowing clouds of gas drifted down the street and protesters started to cough and choke. They gasped for breath and felt like they were drowning. As some protesters retreated and retched on the sidewalk, others ran forward, some with motorcycle body armor and gas masks on, holding in front of themselves umbrellas, sleds, and homemade plywood shields.
Comments
RC
Posted: Thu, 07/30/2020 11:34 amThe problem with protesting in America today is that it produces little more than destructive behavior you would expect from tantrum driven two year-old. Marching around yelling and screaming along with destroying stuff may make one feel like they have some power or are accomplishing something or may make them feel good when they get shown in the media. The message gets totally muddled in the disorganized, confusing, contradicting and unorganized voices screaming it out.
A two-year-old lost in a tantrum gets the attention of the parent, but will not get the two-year old what they want.
What exactly did the Kent State Protest accomplish? Was it worth the lives of the of the four students who died there? Has anyone asked the parents, of those four students, what they think?
TW
Posted: Wed, 07/29/2020 10:33 amThere were 24 comments on this article as of last evening most questioning certain aspects of this article. Not sure what happened to them all.
HANNAH.
Posted: Wed, 07/29/2020 08:56 pmYour comment was a good reminder for me to reread the website policies, especially the Comment Policy and The Rules of Engagement. (I went to the bottom of the web page and, under Support, I clicked on Website Policies. A faster route may be https://world.wng.org/about/policies ) It was a good corrective. Perhaps the vanishing comments had violated the policy and rules.
Web Editor
Posted: Fri, 07/31/2020 10:13 amWORLD’s moderators have not deleted any comments anywhere on the website this week. Could it be you are confusing this article with another one that had more comments? This past week’s Saturday Series book excerpt, for instance, has generated 37 comments as of this morning, probably more than any other article this week.
Janet B
Posted: Wed, 07/29/2020 06:18 pmThe statements from these two Ashleys frustrate me:
"the Perlbergs, who were having what Ashley Perlberg called a 'date night. … If we don’t raise anti-racist kids, then I haven’t done my job.' She said, 'Our system [needs to] be torn down and rebuilt. … We need to change the government.' "
And just how is this behavior raising anti-racist kids? And to what would she like the goverment to change by tearing down?
"English teacher, Ashley Mountain, said, 'I’m here to support Black Lives Matter, to help defund the police, and help get the feds out of Portland, Ore. … I work with youth … I don’t think I can stand in front of them and talk to them about being good citizens and participating in their society if I don’t lead as an example.' "
This statement tells me that either this woman has no idea what the goals of BLM are, or she wants to "lead" her students into thinking that being good citizens means rioting when you are angry about something.
I am also frustrated that most media outlets, with WORLD getting close, are touting these destructive gatherings as "protests," "marches," and now "festivals." They are riots. There is nothing constructive about them. They serve no purpose except to tear down, as Ashely Perlberg has honestly stated.
I am, however, encouraged by Pastor Hennessee's boldness to speak truth to the protesters. And I appreciate WORLD's decision to include his quote. I haven't seen that in the MSM.
Kathryn Berry
Posted: Mon, 08/10/2020 10:34 amQuote "A projectile apparently shot by a federal agent on July 12 left a protester with a fractured skull."
Please don't repeat "apparently" info. It's gossip not factual news. Sad that Olasky did not confirm the info or omit it. It reminds of news from an unconfirmed, unreportable, or protected source. It happens continually in "news" nowadays.
Lorena
Posted: Mon, 08/31/2020 05:39 pmIt is chilling that a high school English teacher would think that supporting Black Lives Matter sets a good example for her students. Two of the 3 founders of BLM are self-described "trained Marxists" whose end-goal is the destruction of the nuclear family, our entire judicial system and our constitutional government. This is clearly layed out on their website and in their writings.For a well-researched examination of BLM, I recommend the August 18th episode, "Black Lives Matter?" on the Just Thinking podcast with Darrell Harrison and Virgil Walker.